


Class Reunion

by davidsenzi



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), bughead - Fandom
Genre: Bughead Oneshot, Bughead fluff, F/M, One Shot, Slow Burn, bughead angst, bughead fluff and agnst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 12:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14569461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/davidsenzi/pseuds/davidsenzi
Summary: A bughead one shot"She gasped and froze as she saw the body hovered in front of her. She didn’t even have to look up because she recognized the familiar silhouette of his body. The unforgettable image was engraved into her brain, haunting her like some ghost of the past...“I never hated you!” She weakly restated as if that’s all she could say before tears would stream down her face. “I tried every damn day to hate you. I tried so hard Jughead,”...“I hated myself,” He susuratted hoarsely. Still eyes closed, she rested her forehead on his...“Why would you hate yourself if I love you?” She whispered, words dancing around his head."Would it really stick?





	Class Reunion

It had been ten years since any of the core four had been back all together in the hell hole that Riverdale had become. After the slaughter of Jason Blossom, the town was more cautious...At least they thought they were. Until the black hood has tortured one the so called  _ perfect girl next door. _ It had disintegrated and perished her. Every last hope she was holding drowned her as they all had become impossible. Really, the worst part out of the torture that would always haunt her...Was the emptiness that filled her heart and the raven haired southsider slashed her heart into half. That’s the one thing she had regretted. Letting  _ it  _ stick. 

_ Please go home. _ The words still hissed through the air, making her shiver at how clearly she could hear the melancholy that filled his sorrowful and pitiful voice. What she really hated the most? How strong she had become because it couldn’t make up for the ceaseless ache that weighed down on her shoulders. 

How did she never make a rash decision that night or the years after even when ten years later the words were still pounding on her door? Isolation. She isolated herself from the world. Once he had moved to the Southside, this air from her lungs that she had somehow been holding for years was let out...But it wasn’t enough because truly, she didn’t feel free. She felt trapped. She became the loner he was so commonly known and called as. College came and she took the opportunity to leave and never come back...Or did she? 

Because the day the invitation to the ten year Riverdale high school graduation letter was placed in her PO box, some overwhelming feeling was engulfing her to go back. As smart as she is, she knew the feeling very well. She tried to swallow it back down, but she choked. 

_ It had to stick,  _ she kept telling herself.  _ It had to stick. It had to stick.  _ Wasn’t she supposed to  _ go home? _

\--------

A high pitched scream called, “B!” As she was pulled into a quick hug. A smile came across her face as she immediately recognized the nickname and familiar scent the one and only Veronica Lodge wore.

“I’m so excited you’re here, I didn’t know if you’d come!” The raven haired princess beamed as she released her arms from around her back. 

In a chuckle, the blonde replied “Neither did I...Something was telling me to come and I still can’t quite understand why.”

“Well if you’re looking for a couple of the single hotties, they’re all over by the drinks…” She paused as she glanced around, quirking a brow, “...Archie!” She called, waving her hand to signal him to walk over.

“Hey!” He gave an eager chuckle, “What brought you back here?”

She brought her thumb over her other pastel pink colored nails, “Honestly not sure.”

“Well it’s great to see you back here. Riverdale hasn’t been more than dull, but everyone’s presence is really lighting the place up,” He went on about this little town that she so desperately wanted to leave, but stay at the same time. 

It’s like the wind was screeching at her, nagging her to leave, but somehow her legs were too cold from the breeze to move. 

“Also, I don’t know if you want to talk to him, but Jug’s still here. You’ll probably run into him sometime.”

She gave out a small gasp not realizing that she had been holding her breath since the mention of  _ his  _ name.  _ Of course they had to talk about him. _ She played it off with a chuckle, “Please  _ he  _ would never show up to one of these things.”

Just like that, the world defied her and every single piece of information that she had learned about him had been proven wrong. Someone was walking in. At first she couldn’t recognize him without the hat, only being able to see someone’s head moving through the crowd. But it was those luscious black curls that bounced on his head as he waltzed into the room. It was intoxicating. 

“Betty,” A thrilled voice practically screamed as he put his hand on her shoulder. 

“What?” She said whipping her head back, trying to forget about what happened. “Oh Kev, hey!”

“Plot twist apparently  _ he _ would show up to things like this."  _ Great,  _ he had overheard their conversation and would probably bug her all night to talk to him.  _ Shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen.  _ Why was she getting so upset over this if she knew it was a possibility in the first place? Reason was still unknown to her. 

“Come on B, it can’t be that bad. See, he’s coming over. Jughead!” She called. Betty shot her a powerful glare and then quickly went over to the drink table. 

Being the person she was, getting drunk was never approved by the Coopers, so she grabbed a soda. Wait...That wasn’t it. That wasn’t the real reason, was it? It was because of  _ him.  _ Because of the horror that he had to experience because of that fucking idiotic vice. 

“Sweet cousin of mine,” Cheryl warmly said as she reached over to the back of the table to grab a cherry coke. “You look absolutely stunning in that pink jumpsuit. I mean the bun just tops it off perfectly!” Lowering her voice with a smirk, she added, “Also love the lacy bralette.” It wasn’t weird that she smiled like that. They’d gone through hell and back. Fuck it, if they wanna compliment each other on bralettes, they were going to.

“Thank you Cher,” She sweetly replied and then she took another slow slip from her regular coca-cola. “The red sweetheart dress looks undeniably beautiful on you.”

Smugly she daintily sipped from her soda, “I know tonight’s gonna be hard for you, but...Are you ready?”

She sighed and thought about the question. This was the risk she was taking right? After all, she had to be. “I’ve been trying to fully comprehend that question all night. I think...It’ll be a lot and I’ll probably feel like shit, but I’m ready. Maybe. Like I’m not going to talk to him yet.”

“Indecisive Cooper, I like it,” She snickered. Tilting her head to the side, she nicely said, “Remember it’s about you tonight. Take your time until you’re ready and are going to go in with a clear conscious, then talk to him. Sweet coz, but don’t halt your journey tonight, the band aid needs to be ripped off.”

She grabbed her coke bottle and gestured it towards the ginger, “Thank you, I’m gonna go talk to Kevin for a little. It was nice seeing you Cher.”

\--------

“Okay don’t like totally freak out or act obvious about it, but  _ he’s _ probably gonna pass us in a couple seconds,” He said in a subtly, low voice. Her eyes widened as if she had wished for him to inform her earlier. 

“Kev,” She pointed her finger in the air towards Veronica, “I gotta go.” And like that, her heels clicked behind her, leaving a trail of the warm feelings that were so easily thought of as Betty.

Frantically skipping over to her best friend, she said, “V, you gotta help me. I can’t do this. I can’t talk to him.”

\--------

“Heyyyy Jughead,” Kevin smiled as he reached his arm out to stop wherever the raven haired Romeo was heading to.

“Hey Kev,” he quickly dismissed him, but felt the grip get tighter on his jacket. “Gotta problem with me?” He chuckled.

“Listen, you have a lot of nerve showing up to-”

“-My high school reunion?” He immediately interrupted. “I know the audacity of me to walk in here and pretend that I was here for my freshmen and sophomore years.” He quirked a brow and the brunette let out a nervous chuckle. 

“It’s just...Really hard for her, you know? I-I’m sure you can relate, but uhm,” He glanced over to see that the blonde’s bun was now out of sight, “She needs time. This almost broke her and I can’t glue those pieces back again because she’ll find out it’s never been glue, it’s been band aids.”

“I’m gonna go catch Archie now that he’s coming this way,” He said ignoring what the brunette had tried to describe. Maybe it was because it would break him too if he really thought about what those words meant. After all, he never had glue.

\--------

_ You can do this, you can do this. You can do this, _ she kept telling herself. She looked into the mirror and brushed her finger around the shape of her lips, making sure there was no smudges or smears. Looking down to the faucet, she turned the handle and slowly rubbed in the soap before it dissolved under the touch of the warm water. 

Grabbing the paper towels, unhurriedly, she leisurely wiped away the water droplets that had remained on from washing her hands.

After she threw the towel in the trash, she turned through the exit of the bathroom. She gasped and froze as she saw the body hovered in front of her. She didn’t even have to look up because she recognized the familiar silhouette of  _ his  _ body. It was  _ him. Him.  _ There he was leaned up on the side of the wall, with his slim body in navy blue khakis, suspenders, and a baby blue  _ Polo  _ shirt that brought out the vibrancy of his ocean eyes. Again, she didn’t need to look up to know this, the unforgettable image was engraved into her brain, haunting her like some ghost of the past.

Letting out a defeated chuckle, knowing he was probably smirking at the pleasure he got from easily scaring her, she murmured, “I didn’t take you as a stalker.”

“I didn’t take you as a shirker, but hey there are still things we don’t know about each other,” He replied with a low voice.  _ Damn it! _ He still smelled like that mix of cologne, cigarettes, and wood that she used to crave so badly. Damn it was intoxicating. 

Reluctantly, giving in, she slowly moved her emerald eyes to look at the piercing eyes she felt on her. Her brows furrowed as his figure moved in front of her. As she moved slightly to the right so her back could lean against the wall for support, she saw that his form was still blockading hers. 

She gave a chuckle at his slyness. “Clever, but I have to go meet up with Veronica.”

“With the amount of times I saw you running back and forth between Veronica, Cheryl, Archie, and Kevin, is it honestly that inevitable?”  _ Inevitable, he had said. His figure, seeming to come even closer to her. God, if he knew he was suffocating her.  _

“I assume you had other intentions...That were  _ inevitable _ ?” She asked. Glancing around, she shook her head in disapproval. She scoffed,”Why are you even here Jug?”  _ Jug.  _ Ow, that one hurt, It was way too close to home. 

His eyes softened at the mention of his nickname. “I could ask you the same question,” He firmly stated, his serious side attempting to take over. “Let’s be real for a second,” He stiffly said, “Why are we both here? I know we both don’t want to admit it, Betts…” She shivered.  _ Betts, he had said.  _ “...Why the fuck would you fly across the fucking country from LA and why of all times would I leave that damned trailer? Don’t be foolish.”

“I - you - this is too hard,” She said through her breath as her eyes glistened with another layer of water.

Only, instead of playing it tough, she saw the hardened shell he had been working so hard to keep up for all of those years perish in a matter of seconds.  _ Fuck. Damn it. _  
  


“That’s an understatement,” He hissed, words blowing at her cheek. “Seeing you everyday with your fucking fake world of bubblegum and rainbows. Not even that!” He said raising his hands,” The fact that I was the only one who knew it was fake. The fact that when I broke up with you, I had found out about the black hood. The fact that my heart won’t fucking stop aching everyday. The fact that I couldn’t fix you anymore because I had to fix my own mess. The fact that when I told you that, I knew you didn’t want me because I fucked it up. I knew you didn’t-”

“-Stop!” She abruptly raised her voice. She quickly lowered her voice to a murmur, “Don’t ever say that. I never hated you.”

His brows furrowed.

“I never hated you!” She weakly restated as if that’s all she could say before tears would stream down her face.  _ Not tonight, _ she had thought. “I tried every damn day to hate you. I tried so hard Jughead,” She said shaking her head as she closed her eyes and looked to the floor. “But I could never find out how,” She squeaked.

He instantly grabbed her hands as she saw her old habits hit him like the universe had fallen onto him. Of course he remembered the crimson crescents on her palms. “I hated myself,” He susuratted hoarsely. Still eyes closed, she rested her forehead on his. “I hated myself,” He mumbled. She felt a tear drop fall onto her cheek. This time is wasn’t her tear. It was  _ his.  _ “I hated myself,” He repeated for the third time.

“Why would you hate yourself if I love you?” She whispered, words dancing around his head.

“Because I couldn’t stop loving you either. It killed me to see how I hurt you. To the point where I just couldn’t see you. Then the images were stuck in my-”

“-Love me,” She weakly and desperately mumbled.

Opening his eyes, he looked down to the green ones that were piercing at him. “Love me,” She breathed again.

“I do Betty,” He spoke softly, tears still falling down his face, “I do.”

It was that moment where they both realized that it was still there and no matter how they could try to ignore it, they wouldn’t be able to...Because they loved each other.

**Author's Note:**

> You can comment more bughead one shot ideas down below for me to add to this collection! Hope you enjoyed :)


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